Dads Are Less Likely to Take Paternity Leave When They Have Daughters

A new study shows more men are taking time off from work to be with their newborns, which is great, except they're far more likely to take that leave if the child is a boy, which is, let's be honest, pretty shitty.

The new info comes from California, where researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara analyzed data on parental leave. In 2004, California became the nation's first state to pass a family law, allowing parents to take time off to be with family and still get paid part of their wage. Researchers found that dads in the Golden State are 46 percent more likely to take paternity leave in the first year of their child's life than they were before the law took effect, according to business-news website Quartz. However, fathers of sons took leave 50 percent more than dads of daughters.

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The study's authors try to explain why — and their rationale is sort of awful:

First, it may be that fathers get more utility from spending time with their sons than daughters. Second, it may be that the parents perceive that paternal time spent caring for boys is relatively more productive than time spent caring for girls.

There were a couple of interesting side notes to the story: Men were more likely to take paternity leave if they worked in an office with a lot of women. And they were far less likely to take time off after their first child. Sorry, little sis.

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